World

Unexploded shells disrupt Japan

JAPANESE troops have removed two unexploded wartime bombs in central and western Japan, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes and disrupting bullet train services.

In central Japan, a dud shell believed to have been fired by a US naval ship during World War II, was removed from a rail depot in Hamamatsu where it was found in October, a city official said on Sunday.

A bomb disposal unit of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) loaded the 860-kilogram shell onto a military vehicle and took it to a nearby beach to be detonated.

An evacuation warning issued to 10,000 residents was lifted after the detonation, the official said.

Central Japan Railway suspended its operation of the high-speed Tokaido Shinkansen Line between Hamamatsu and Toyohashi for about an hour, affecting about 14,000 passengers, local media said.

Another unexploded wartime bomb was also removed by troops in the western city of Kobe on Sunday, forcing about 7000 people to temporarily evacuate to schools and other public buildings, city officials said.

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